Three different Ntsevu lionesses were found at separate points across Londolozi on a morning drive recently. Two of those lionesses are currently rearing small cubs. The third was mating with the Othawa male near the river, way further east than anyone from Londolozi has seen that male lion before.
Tracks of the rest of the pride were heading into the central parts of the reserve.
An Ntsevu lioness and Othawa male, both of which were out of their respective territories.
The fracturing of the Ntsevu pride that we have long anticipated may well be upon us; there are just simply too many moving parts within the pride dynamics for things to continue as normal. The adult lionesses are coming back into oestrus or have already had new litters, the Birmingham males are ageing and the Othawa male seems to be pressing deeper into Londolozi all the time.
A more regal place for a male lion to be, I can’t imagine. The Othawa male and an Ntsevu lioness on Plaque Rock on the Sand River. The lioness was in fact watching the Tsalala pride that was on the far bank of the river. The Ntsevu female retreated a few seconds later, without having been seen by the Tsalala lioness.
Lionesses will sometimes mate with males outside the dominant coalition in an effort to invest different males in the paternity of their offspring. The Othawa male pictured is dominant over the Mhangeni pride while the Ntsevu female he is mating with would be expected to be mating with one of the Birmingham males…
Although it’s not like the pride will split apart from today and we won’t see them as a whole again (at least in the current numbers), with lionesses denning small cubs at different points on the reserve and therefore forced to spend time apart from the bulk of the pride, the days may well be numbered in which we see a unified front of 20 lions all on the move together. (Or is it 19, I can never remember).
The lionesses and newest cubs are going to be seen solo a lot more we think, forced to spend time away from the pride as they remain close to their cubs in order to provide them with milk.
One can clearly see the suckle marks around this lionesses’ teats, meaning she is keeping young cubs somewhere. She was found close to the Londolozi camps, calling for wither the pride or one of the males. A lot of lion behaviour is fairly confusing, and we have to make assumptions based on scant evidence.
Maybe they will all reunite, but their movements – or at least their numbers when we find them – are likely to be extremely inconsistent this summer. Three lionesses here, the sub-adults and a lioness there, two Birmingham males with a Mhangeni female… it will be hard to keep track, and since a lioness for the most part look very much like another, I guess we’ll have to be extra careful with the calls we make when it comes to identifying who’s who.
I have always thought of the Ntsevu as a super pride. I understand that the young males will leave the pride at some stage. Hopefully all the lionesses will get together with their new cubs and be a “super pride” again.
Agree with you James. Feeding that many lions will become more and more difficult for the pride. I must say though, seeing the entire pride altogether last week was a pretty awesome experience.
Wonderful images of the royal family… the history of lions pride are better than any tv series on humans very intriguing and you never know what the single individual will do… just guess the next move
James, I loved all the photos, I kept the mating, I also kept Lioness with male🤗
You wonder whether there will be more than one pride -reforming and where does the Tsalala fit in?
If my memory is correct , I thought that you gave the Othawa male little chance owing to not being part of a coalition ?
That is the most magnificent photo of a male lion at Londolozi that I have ever seen! Mane blowing in the wind! How wonderful to see!
James, How awesome to see the lions perched on top of Plaque Rock. The resting shot is regal! It looks like the lion dynamics are potentially on the move again!
Great observation…and it applies to more worldly environments than just lions!! “A lot of lion behaviour is fairly confusing, and we have to make assumptions based on scant evidence”. Another interesting blog, James!
James it seems to me that this is kind of a nice problem to have. #Londolozi. Seems like the prime spot
James it seems to me that this is kind of a nice problem to have. Seems like the prime spot
The shot of the Othawa male and the Ntsevu Lioness on Plaque rock was AMAZING ! Is it me or is his mane absolutely gigantic ?
I wonder if any of the cubs are in danger due to a dominant pride male having doubts as to their parentage.
Great photos!
This lion really looks like the king of the animal kingdom
Well it seems there are three major prides in the area now- Ntsevu, Mhagene and the Nkuhuma(sp?) with the Avoca, Birmingham and Othawa males. So many females and cubs, sub adults….. must be exhausting for all of you in that area of Sabi Sand to keep track of the movements but we’re looking forward to continued reports.
Hi James…. Thanks for this extremely interesting and informative update re the Kambula/Ntsevu pride….things are certainly changing re their pride dynamics!…not to mention more pressure put on our gorgeousTsalala queen and her princess!…..also .if Prince Othawa is away mating here then he’s not protecting his own cubs , which could be a concern with nomads potentially coming in….so many aspects coming into play here….sounds like v unsettling times as was predicted a few months back….(apparently for leopard dynamics as well so I hear)…always look forward to your updates…thanks once again James….hoping our Tsalala pride keep vigilant and safe….. they are loved and their stories are followed by so many of us….
Wow, this is a fascinating development. It will be interesting, and I’m guessing exciting to see how this all develops! Best of luck to them all as these developments unfold!!
My wallpaper has been updated, what a spectacular photo of the male from othawa and his partner. Is he mating with the ntsevu lioness at risk of confrontation with the males from birmingham?
Is the othawa male already at its peak? It reminds me of rasta mapogo and Hip scar manjigilane
James, thanks so much for the update! Very interesting dynamics for sure and how I wish I was there with you all (my hope is to somehow get from America as a young college student to become a guide some day) to document it. Do you anticipate the few lionesses with new cubs being seen more together to form a new creche of cubs with the other females eventually joining and thereby forcing the sub-adults to fend for themselves? Also, is the lioness in the last picture a different female than the mothers of the two older litters or one of the mothers of the three cubs or one cub previously documented here on the blog? Looking forward to future blog posts on the lion dynamics and keep up the great work!
Hi Michael;
I’ve actually been away for two weeks and have just got back so I’m unsure as to which lioness is the mother of which cubs I’m afraid. I have yet to see the new litters…
It’s a good question as to whether the new mothers will tend to spend more time together, as one of the whole reasons for coming into oestrus concurrently is so they can allo-suckle and give the cubs a higher chance of survival. I can’t actually say. Any time I make a call as to what will happen next the lions do something to surprise me, so I’m hesitant to g out on a limb here. I imagine that might be the case, but ultimately my guess would be that in 6 months to a year’s time, the 6 original lionesses will be back as one unit with much younger members, and the current sub-adults will have been pushed out…
That’s a guess purely on what we’ve seen with the Mhangeni pride and how the Ntsevu pride themselves formed…
Beautiful pics!!
The Othawa lion looks simply magnificent with the wind catching his mane ! An incredible photo James!! So when they split and possibly regroup from time to time would there now not be aggression between them ? Particularly if there is a new family from the Othawa male…🙏❤️
Hi Cally, it’s hard to say. I imagine the whole idea behind mating with different males is to confuse the paternity; the lioness will just need to mate with the Birmingham males within a short window.
We’ve seen aggression from the dominant males before when the Matimba males were chasing the Ntsevu females around because they (the lionesses) had been mating with the Matshipiri males: https://blog.londolozi.com/2017/01/09/matimba-males-chase-mhangeni-breakaways/
Thanks James. I have read the blog of 2017/01/09 and then ended up going back to even older blogs where a cub was killed by his father and so on. Fascinating reading and as you say, so difficult to pinpoint reasons for the change in behaviour as it’s not seen to be a character trait. That’s the wonderful thing about nature..the unpredictability that keeps it ‘wild and free’. 🙏❤️
Big families will eventually break up if the food source gets reduced. Great pics.
So we do know that the youngest Ntsevu cubs are the Birmingham’s? Othawa is then a danger to those cubs….hopefully we will be able to see the entire pride together a little bit longer…..they are really stunning!